Enter your email to restore your password

Book Reviews: Implementing EU Pollution Control: Law & Integration

The value of a book-length treatment of Directive 2008/1 concerning integrated pollu-tion prevention and control (the IPPC Directive) will be generally understood by environmental lawyers. The Directive is important practically, but also conceptually, exemplifying a number of aspects of the legal development of environmental protection in the EU (tension between flexibility and centralisation and between substantive and process standards, the use of diverse regulatory instruments, environmental integration, to name just a few). That the text of the Directive, law in the books' as Lange would put it, tells only a fraction of the story has also been clear for some time, since the Directive also exemplifies the trend towards continued negotiation of standards in EU law after completion of the formal legislative process. This valuable book provides an important detailed empitical examination of implementation of the IPPC Directive. It crucially informs our understanding of IPPC 'in action', and provides many perceptive insights for the study of environmental regulation more generally.

Implementing EU Pollution Control carries out a detailed empirical investigation of how 'best available techniques' (BAT) under the IPPC Directive are identified at three different sites: during the writing of BAT Reference Notes (BREFs) at EU level, and during implementation in two member states, the UK and Germany. But analysis of the IPPC Directive, whilst important in its own right, and whilst excellently done, is not the main purpose of this book. IPPC provides a case study of the role of law in EU integration. Lange challenges what she calls the 'specific, predetermined concept of law, which perceives law and the 'formal law in the books' as relatively autonomous from its social contexts and as capable of being wielded in an instrumental manner' (p. 15). Lange contrasts what she calls 'traditional' perspectives on law and integration (Ch. 2) with 'critical' approaches (Ch. 3), rejecting this notion of law as relatively autonomous of social processes. Striking for those who study the role of law in environmental protection is her rejection of 'instrumental conception of law', arguing that the relationship between law and social, political and economic (perhaps also environmental?) change is not straightforwardly linear.

Lange argues that the ways in which law features in EU integration is an empirical question that can only be answered with reference to an analysis of what law is actually generated in 'real life EU integration processes', emphasising 'the importance of implementation practices as a source of law' (p. 15). Her discussion of IPPC (in Ch. 6 especially) exemplifies how formal law can be the starting point for the generation of a variety of norms, with diverse contributions to integration.

The environmental material is perhaps of more concern to the readers of this review than the very interesting theoretical discussion of the role of law in integration. It should be said that the links between the theoretical material and the empirical examination, whilst sometimes challenging, confirm the value of the theoretical chapters. But there is plenty to interest those who prefer their pollution control without Foucault. Chapters 5 to 8 examine different elements of BAT determination, looking at political, technical and economic discourse, and the norms that emerge in the different regulatory fora.

Related articles

The UK waste industry now demands you are across every aspect of your operations, the law and environmental standards so a professional partner who provides the best advice is crucial. This prevents expensive mistakes, provides insight and ensures the best business model for your requirements.
Inciner8 has a team of engineers, technical experts and project advisors who will guide you through the whole process, from accurate waste audit to optimising operations and even waste to energy transfer.
It doesn’t...

A recent Superfund-related case in New Jersey highlights how US authorities, both Federal and State, will not take kindly to companies that seek to circumvent their environmental responsibilities.
Companies, and their subsidiaries, that are landowners or waste generators, who are responsible for contaminating a Superfund site should ensure they are in compliance with requirements to clean up the site, reimburse the government, or reimburse other parties for cleanup activities. The New Jersey House of Assembly...

After a scare, Brazil`s President reiterates environmental commitments, but the battle continues
On 7 June 2017, Enhesa’s regulatory analysts came across an Associated Press news item which said Brazil was considering following in the footsteps of the USA in stepping back from its commitments under the Paris Agreement on climate change. We asked one of our Brazilian EHS Regulatory Analyst, Larissa Copello, to look into this story in some more depth and provide some more insight…
Two controversial...

Well hands up, who saw that one coming? nope? me neither.
The UK woke up to a surprise on Friday morning as Theresa May surrendered her Parliamentary majority, with the Conservatives losing 13 seats and falling eight seats short of the required 326. Although, the Conservatives still ended up with the most seats in Parliament, it is not good news for her idea of a “strong and stable” government leading the upcoming Brexit negotiations. It is potentially even worse news for the UK’s environmental...

BSK Labs runs a number of environmental laboratories and service centers along the west coast of the US. A total of 70 employees – including microbiologists, chemists, lab technicians, and support staff – make sure that the 200 to 350 samples that come in every week are analyzed. BSK Labs specializes in potable water chemistry, ground water monitoring, storm water runoff, solid waste characterization, and wastewater discharge compliance. The company`s portfolio is rounded off with services including...

Customer comments

No comments were found for Book Reviews: Implementing EU Pollution Control: Law & Integration. Be the first to comment!